Frmr. Louisa church secretary convicted of embezzling funds

LOUISA, Va. (WWBT) -A 64-year-old woman is facing over 200 years in prison after she was caught embezzling donations for years from a Louisa church.

Brenda Ragland was convicted of 14 counts of embezzlement from the church where she worshipped and worked for over 20 years.

In early 2023, the church attempted to donate to another local church for a new building. However, when the church board could not reach Ragland, who was traveling, to get a letter from their bank about available funds, they contacted the bank directly.

The bank told the church that it did not have enough money in its bank account for the donation.

The board immediately knew something was wrong.

This prompted the church to examine their financial records, which were returned to the Louisa County Sheriff’s Office for further investigation. The investigation revealed that in addition to taking funds from the church’s bank account, Ragland deposited congregation members’ tithings to the church via Cash App in her personal bank account for several years.

Unfortunately, bank records only went back seven years. Therefore, the loss could be much higher.

Ragland is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 27, 2025, and faces up to 280 years in prison.

She remains free on bond and is awaiting sentencing.